by Marlon Bernardino
Filipino Fide Master (FM) Nelson Villanueva, untitled Recarte Tiauson and International Master (IM) Emmanuel Senador finished in a tie for second place, while Uzbek Grandmaster (GM) Alexei Barsov took the championship at the Kejohanan Catur Terbuka Antarabangsa Langkawi 2018 Chess Championship held at the Myangkasa Akademi and Resort Langkawi in Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia on Sunday, April 15, 2018.

Barsov halved the point with Eric Cheah of Malaysia in the final round, to finish with 7.5 points on seven wins and draw in eight outings.

Meanwhile, Villanueva split the point with countryman Senador while Tiauson, a Technical Support Representative of RingCentral trounced Teh Hui Lam of Malaysia.

Villanueva, Tiauson and Senador finished in a five-way tie for second place with 6.5 points each.

After the tie-break points were applied, Villanueva wound up in second place, followed by Tiauson was in third place. Senador finished fourth, Cheah in fifth and Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan of Malaysia at sixth place.
National Master Stewart Manaog wound up at seventh with 6.0 points.-Marlon Bernardino-